Florida Banking August 2021

CHAIR’S MESSAGE

EMERGING TECHS AND UPSIDE POTENTIAL FOR BANKS

BY FAB BRUMLEY, FBA CHAIR

"WE NEED TO KEEP AN EAR TO THE GROUND AND AN EYE TO THE FUTURE, AND CULTIVATE A WILLINGNESS TO LEARN."

I t was so refreshing to see everyone face-to-face at the FBA’s recent 132nd Annual Meeting in Palm Beach. After a long year of Zoom meetings, it’s safe to say we felt safe and enthusiastic about gathering together at The Breakers to network in person. We enjoyed the privilege of learning alongside one another about the challenges and opportunities within our industry. This year, there were interesting discussions about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the banking industry, particularly digital banking and emerging payment methods like cryptocurrency. Our impressive keynote speaker, financial services forecaster and analyst Lee Wetherington, gave us a lot to think about during his presentation, “Emerging Techs 2021: The Abstraction of Financial Services & What it Means for Banks.” I’d like to share a few of the takeaways that I believe are critical 1. We live in a hybrid-money world; w understanding so we can identify bot opportunities. Wetherington shared some comp g about cryptocurrency and digital bank g do not own crypto, it is important to u a large percentage of consumers have i 40 percent of all American consumers form of crypto in the next 12 month a study by Ron Shevlin at Cornerston , percent of consumers said they would buy and sell cryptocurrency from their bank if it were offered. 2. The upside potential for community banks is to provide what the current banking-as-a-service (BaaS) apps are missing. Wetherington pointed out three things these apps are missing: 1) Outbound aggregation; 2) A financial health score, and 3) Personal service at the moment of need. Personal service, of course, is the “superpower” of community bankers. How would we go about plugging these gaps for our customers… ? y g

3. Community banks have an opportunity to invert banking-as-a-service and embed the best of what’s out there into their native digital banking experience. Wetherington made the point that bankers have historically feared “open banking” because we assume it makes it easier for our customers to leave us. In reality, the situation is “both/and” rather than “either/ or.” Our customers are already everywhere else. We know this to be true because we, too, use payment apps like Venmo, Zelle, PayPal and Square. Open banking is bidirectional. We can bring the best of what’s out there (that our customers are already using!) into our native digital banking experience, and this is called “embedded fintech.” You control the relationship with the customer. The pandemic showed us just how important or our industry. We need to keep an ear g nd an eye to the future, and cultivate a g arn. I encourage you to take advantage nal opportunities offered by the FBA. p y like to thank the FBA team for their

g nizing a successful convention and for g otel rooms, meals and more amidst p autions. g ghts of the Annual Meeting included phenomenal keynote speakers, our ons, regulator panel, BankPac Silent

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Auction fundraiser, and our final gala with hilarious entertainment from the Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos. Speaking of entertainment – nothing was more so than the wardrobe faux pas of our Immediate Past Chair Greg Nelson, when he arrived in his boxers (!) because he “mistook” our event for a Zoom meeting. Congratulations to our new officers and award winners. It is always an honor to recognize members of our association for their service and dedication. If you weren’t able to attend this year, I hope you will join us next year.

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